‘One is Still Alive!’: Hikers Conduct Risky Attempt to Rescue Two 19-Year-Olds Who Fell Down 150 Cliff

A group of hikers who came across two women who fell off a cliff in the Mount Hood National Forest near Portland, Oregon tried desperately to save their lives, 911 calls reveal.

Emily Lang and Emma Place, both 19-year-olds who had just finished their freshman year of college, died after falling from a 150-foot cliff earlier this month, KATU reported. They had been camping near a waterfall between Timberline Lodge and Paradise Park, according to KATU.

On Aug. 12, a group of seven hikers spotted the women from above a ravine on the Pacific Crest Trail. They told 911 dispatchers that the women were not moving and that there was blood on the rocks.

Two of the hikers went down to check on the women while the others stayed behind to provide updates to first responders.

It was immediately apparent that one of the women wasn’t alive. She didn’t have a pulse, hikers said on the 911 call.

“One is still alive,” one of the hikers told dispatchers. “Please hurry.”

The woman who was still alive was also lying in about an inch of water flowing from a stream. The dispatcher then told the hikers that, despite her injuries, they needed to move her because leaving her in the water could pose a threat of hypothermia.

After informing the hikers that help was on the way, first responders worked with them to find their location using coordinates from their cellphone signals, which did not work at first.

It took more than an hour for first responders to find the group. In the meantime, the hikers found the women’s identities and tried to talk to the unconscious woman in an attempt to comfort her and keep her alive.

“We’re constantly talking to her…” one hiker said on the call. “She may be unconscious, but she may hear us.”

Soon after, the woman’s condition worsened. She began to take “raspy, shallow breaths” before she stopped breathing altogether.

But, she still had a pulse, and first responders instructed hikers on how to perform CPR.

Although their efforts were unsuccessful, the hikers displayed an invaluable lesson on the goodness of humanity.

Both Lang and Place loved seeking adventure, loved ones told KATU.

“She was just full of life and joy,” said Rob Mohrweis, associate director of the Cascades Camp and Conference Center, where Place worked over the summer. “She always had a smile on her face.”

A fellow camp staffer, Nathan Hoppenrath, described Place as “the kind of person that will drop everything and comfort you if you are in need of it.”

“She’s adventurous, compassionate and loves God with all her heart. “She has a heart of service and cared so much.”